Three Percent Podcast

Riffraff co-owner and BTBA poetry judge Emma Ramadan joins Chad and Tom to talk about the fifteen finalists for this year's Best Translated Book Awards. After breaking down the poetry and fiction lists, the three talk about the new New York Times Match Book column and the value of booksellers and librarians.   This week's music is "High Ticket Attractions" by The New Pornographers.   As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you'd like us to read and analyze, send those along as well.   And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

On this week's podcast, Tom and Chad discuss the potential troubles of getting paid as a freelance translator, the Missing Richard Simmons podcast, and Seed by Joanna Walsh. There are also allusions to the forthcoming BTBA shortlists, and a new podcast project that will be starting up in May . . .   This week's music is "Here's to the Fourth Time!" by Los Campesinos!   As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you'd like us to read and analyze, send those along as well.   And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

In this podcast, Tom and Chad go over all thirty-five longlisted titles on this year's Best Translated Book Award longlists. They offer up some uninformed opinions (and a couple informed ones), make their guesses as to which titles will move on, and talk generally about the plethora of Spanish titles on the two lists.   If you haven't seen them yet, click here for the fiction list, and here for the poetry one.   This week's music is "Emoshuns" by Spiral Stairs.   As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you'd like us to read and analyze, send those along as well.   And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

This week, Tom and Chad talk about the Cubs and their "Zen way," the largest publishers in the U.S., this "If there were Oscars for Books!" "article," and, most importantly, the new Amazon bookstore, which Tom visited and brought back some pictures.   This week's music is "Feel It Still" by Portugal. The Man.   And, as always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you'd like us to read and analyze, send those along as well.   And, if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes.  

This week's podcast opens with the sad news of Harry Mathews's passing, then goes deep on Winter Institute, and a couple really long essays Chad wrote for Three Percent. There's a lot that gets unpacked in this episode, from anticipatory lists and market acceleration, to the way that bookstores choose which titles to stock and how comp titles work.   Here are links to specific things covered in this podcast:   Harry Mathews in the Paris Review List of Winter Institute programs and authors Reader Selection and Market Acceleration and The Structural Inequality of Comp Titles The Millions Great 2017 Book Preview   This week's music is "I'm Gonna Live Forever (If it Kills Me)" by William Tyler.   Also, a reminder, since we changed our podcast feed, you may need to unsubscribe and resubscribe to the correct feed in iTunes at that link, or right here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/three-percent-podcast/id434696686   Or, you can just put this feed link into whichever is your podcast app of choice: http://th

As in years past, the entire Open Letter crew (Chad, Nate, Kaija) got together to talk about some of the music they listened to over the past year. (That and Bud Light ads.)   You can listen to all the songs featured on this podcast on the Spotify playlist that's on the podcast post over at Three Percent.   Also, a reminder, since we changed our podcast feed, you may need to unsubscribe and resubscribe to the correct feed in iTunes at that link, or right here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/three-percent-podcast/id434696686   Or, you can just put this feed link into whichever is your podcast app of choice: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss   And, as always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to threepercentpodcast@gmail.com.    Also, if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes.

Caroline Casey from Coffee House Press joined Chad and Tom on this podcast to talk about 2016 movies, TV shows, and podcasts. Before they got into a long discussion about the royal family, Luke Cage, Crimetown, Midnight Special, and more, they touched on a number of things that are both intriguing and a little bit batshit.   Here's the full rundown of this week's episode:   Sylvester Stallone to head the NEA? John O'Brien: "The National Endowment to the Arts in the United States has consistently demonstrated either an indifference to or a hostility towards translations, though it bristles with indignation when this is brought to their attention. A number of years ago I would be told what objections some panel members had to our applications, and in almost all cases the objections centered on panelists not seeing how translations benefited the public and further objected to American money going to writers who weren't American." Andrew Wylie: "Many agencies only think about money. But we only look at the quali

It's been a few weeks since the last podcast, but Chad and Tom are back with a over-stuffed episode that starts with a recap of recent events before turning to Barnes & Noble's plans for their concept stores followed by a lengthy discussion about international crime authors.   Here's a complete list of articles, authors, and books discussed in this episode:   What Barnes & Noble Doesn't Get about Independent Bookstores; The 2016 Neustadt Prize (and corresponding article by Chad); The Point Reyes Indiegogo; East Bay Booksellers; Rage by Zygmunt Miłoszewski, translated from the Polish by Antonia Lloyd-Jones; Giorgio Scerbanenco; Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö's Martin Beck series; Wolf Haas; Melville House International Crime Series; The Thief by Fuminori Nakamura, transalted from the Japanese by Satoko Izumo and Stephen Coates; Six Four by Hideo Yokoyama, translated from the Japanese by Jonathan Lloyd-Davies; The Borrowed by Chan Ho-Kei, translated from the Chinese by Jeremy Tiang; The Hermit by Thomas Ry

This week's podcast starts with the biggest, most surprising news of recent memory--Bob Dylan winning the Nobel Prize in Literature. Then Chad and Tom talk about the National Book Foundation's study of translation, the unmasking of Elena Ferrante (and the backlash to that unmasking, and the backlash to the backlash), and an article by Michael Hofmann about the dangers of over-thinking translation. They conclude by wondering about what the 1980 American Book Award TV presentation must have been like.   This week's music is "Rainy Day Woman #12 & #35" by your new Nobel laureate.   Also, a reminder, since we changed our podcast feed, you may need to unsubscribe and resubscribe to the correct feed in iTunes at that link, or right here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/three-percent-podcast/id434696686   Or, you can just put this feed link into whichever is your podcast app of choice: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss   And, as always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to threepercentpod

This week's podcast kicks off with a list of corrections from Episode 117 from a mix-up of Sophies to an explanation of which Basque Country soccer team only fields Basque players. Then Chad and Tom move on to talk about the recent NEIBA conference and some fall titles they left out of their mini-previews before talking about the I Love Dick TV show (officially picked up!) and their rants. Always rants, always.    Here are links to a few of the books, articles, and websites that came up this week: Wall Street Journal on Bottom's Dream (Spoiler: It's a big book!) Savage Theories by Pola Oloixarac Between Dog and Wolf by Sasha Sokolov, and the Columbia Russian Library Literistic Famadillo and their YouTube Channel   This week's music is "Standing in the Sun" by Grouplove.   Also, a reminder, since we changed our podcast feed, you may need to unsubscribe and resubscribe to the correct feed in iTunes at that link, or right here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/three-percent-podcast/id434696686   Or, you c

In this week's podcast, tom and Chad preview some forthcoming books they're excited about. Having done no solid research, Chad's contributions are questionable at best, especially when he talks about _Panthers in the Hole_ in relation to the COUNTRY of Angola instead of the prison that goes by the same name.   Nevertheless, they have a number of books to whet your appetite, such as one from Arno Schmidt, and the new Krasznahorkai.   This week's music is the new single by Dan Deacon, "Change Your Life (You Can Do It)."   Also, a reminder, since we changed our podcast feed, you may need to unsubscribe and resubscribe to the correct feed in iTunes at that link, or right here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/three-percent-podcast/id434696686   Or, you can just put this feed link into whichever is your podcast app of choice: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss   And, as always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if you like the podcast, tell a friend and

After an extended hiatus, Chad and Tom are back to discuss a slew of things that happened over the past couple months. These include Book Marks, what's going to happen to B&N, and Tim Parks's article on The Vegetarian. They also talk about some books they've read recently--including Zero K, which neither of them liked--before ending with a major announcement from Tom.   It's worth mentioning that Alex Shephard wrote a couple of the articles discussed on this podcast, including one on Book Marks and one on B&N.   Also worth noting that there's a glaring lack of sports talk in this podcast.   Here are the books discussed this week: I Love Dick by Chris Krause The Motel Life by Willy Vlautin Thus Bad Begins by Javier Marías The Transmigration of Bodies by Yuri Herrera The Island of Point Nemo by Jean-Marie Blas de Roblés The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith Screamin' Jay Hawkins' All-Time Greatest Hits by Mark Binelli Zero K by Don DeLillo   Also, a reminder, since we changed our podcast fe

This week's podcast opens with Chad and Tom discussing the 2016 Best Translated Book Award winners and their thoughts on how to evaluate books for the prize. Then, in a separately recorded podcast, Chad and visiting guest George Carroll talk with Juan Villoro about his new book on soccer, God Is Round.   Also, due to summer travel and other obligations, it looks like the podcast will go on a short hiatus. In the meantime, you can catch up on past episodes, and/or read a bunch of great books in translation. (Especially Open Letter titles!)   This week's music is "1804" by The Range.   Also, a reminder, since we changed our podcast feed, you may need to unsubscribe and resubscribe to the correct feed in iTunes at that link, or right here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/three-percent-podcast/id434696686   Or, you can just put this feed link into whichever is your podcast app of choice: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss   And, as always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to threepercentpo

In this week's podcast Tom and Chad talk about the recently released Best Translated Book Award shortlists, before moving on to discussion of the two Reading the World Conversation Series books for April: The Vegetarian by Han Kang and Diorama by Rocío Cerón.   Additional articles and books discussed include, Porochista Khakpour's review of The Vegetarian in the NY Times, Don DeLillo's Zero K, Gabriella Coleman's Hacker, Hoaxer, Whistleblower, Spy, and A.J. Somerset's Arms: The Culture and Credo of the Gun.   They also discussed switching up the RTWCS as a whole, with Dirty Dust and Graveyard Clay--two translations of the same book by Máirtín Ó Cadhain--in May, followed by Liu Xia's Empty Chairs in June. This does deviate from the plan posted here a few months ago, but given the struggles we've had keeping up--and the opportunity to look at two translations of the same book--it seemed worthwhile to shift things a bit, alternating from fiction to poetry each month, and giving everyone participating a little bi

In this week's podcast, Chad and Tom read through all thirty-five titles on the two Best Translated Book Award longlists making comments about the books they've read and the ones that interest them. Then Chad tries his hand at guessing which ten fiction titles will make the shortlist. (Spoiler: He ends up picking fifteen either because he can't count, or because this is a really difficult group to pare down.)   Next week they'll be discussion the Reading the World Book Club titles for March: The Vegetarian by Han Kang and Diorama by Rocío Cerón. (And with a little luck, they'll even have a special guest.) If you have any comments or questions about those titles, post them at the RTWBC Facebook page, or send them to threepercentpodcast@gmail.com or to chad.post@rochester.edu.   This week's music is "Don't Make Me Wait" by Emma Pollock.   Also, just a reminder, since we changed our podcast feed, you may need to unsubscribe and resubscribe to the correct feed in iTunes at that link, or right here: https://itune

This week's podcast feels like one straight out of 2011, with Chad getting angry about all sorts of things and just letting loose. The starting point for their discussion is the three-part series Tim Parks wrote for the New York Review of Books (part one, part two, part three), but they go on to talk about JellyBooks and what "moneyball" is, and then discuss a series of book covers.   This week's music is "Buggin' Out" by A Tribe Called Quest. (RIP Phife Dawg. Tribe is has always been, and will forever be, the shit.)   Also, just a reminder, since we changed our podcast feed, you may need to unsubscribe and resubscribe to the correct feed in iTunes at that link, or right here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/three-percent-podcast/id434696686   Or, you can just put this feed link into whichever is your podcast app of choice: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss   And, as always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to threepercentpodcast@gmail.com.

This week, Tom and Chad discuss the two Reading the World Book Club books for February: On the Edge by Rafael Chirbes, translated from the Spanish by Margaret Jull Costa (New Directions), and Monospace by Anne Parian, translated from the French by Emma Ramadan (La Presse). Admittedly, neither of them know much about contemporary poetry, but they do try their best when talking about Parian and how to approach her collection. On the Edge plays to both of them though, with it's bleak, despairing outlook on life, and the way it sort of wallows in tragedy.   Tom also wants all listeners to know that he and Chad DID NOT record the podcast shirtless.   There should be a regular, rambling podcast up in between this one an the next RTWBC-centric one, but either way, the two books they're reading in March are The Vegetarian  by Han Kang, translated from the Korean by Deborah Smith (Crown), and Diorama by Rocío Cerón, translated from the Spanish by Anna Rosenwong (Phoneme Media). You can join in by sending all your ques

Adrian Nathan West joined this week's podcast to talk about Marianne Fritz and his translation of The Weight of Things, the first novel in the recently launched Reading the World Book Clubs. Additionally, we talked about Twelve Stations by Tomasz Różycki (the RTWBC poetry selection this month), the ABA Winter Institute, this great article about Chris Jackson and how he's building a black literary movement, and an awful article in Wired by Steve Rushin in which he imagines Super Bowl 100. (There's some static in this one that pops up a bit. Nothing too bad, but, unfortunately, we couldn't edit all of it out. Not to worry, though, we're getting a fix ASAP for the mic glitch.)   Because the Wired piece isn't online, I want to share a few paragraphs so that we can collectively wallow in the crap:   "For its centennial Super Bowl, the NFL returned to its favorite host city, Las Vegas, which first staged the title game 45 years ago. Super Bowl LV shared its initials with Las Vegas but also with Louis Vuitton, the l

In a sort of role-reversal, Tom does most of the ranting in this podcast, partially inspired by this article entitled "Damn, You're Not Reading Any Books by White Men This Year? That's So Freakin Brave and Cool." They also discuss some women in translation stats, Philip Pullman's decision to pull out as a patron of the Oxford Literary Festival, and the NBCC Book Award Finalists.   There is some specific book talk as well, mostly about The Weight of Things, The Argonauts, and The Story of My Teeth.   This week's music is "Oh Donna" by Library Voices.   Also, just a reminder, since we changed our podcast feed, you may need to unsubscribe and resubscribe to the correct feed in iTunes at that link, or right here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/three-percent-podcast/id434696686   Or, you can just put this feed link into whichever is your podcast app of choice: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss   Tell all your friends and family to also subscribe--that's what can get us higher in that Top 200 lit podcasts lis

This week Chad and Tom talk about a Guardian article about how indie presses are doing the work discovering new authors for the big commercial houses. Then, they talk about all the year-end lists Chad's been creating for Three Percent and end by raving about champagne bottle sizes and ranting about book cover coverage.   This week's season appropriate music is "White Christmas," performed by Bad Religion.   Also, just a reminder, since we changed our podcast feed, you may need to unsubscribe and resubscribe to the correct feed in iTunes at that link, or right here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/three-percent-podcast/id434696686   Or, you can just put this feed link into whichever is your podcast app of choice: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss   Tell all your friends and family to also subscribe--that's what can get us higher in that Top 200 lit podcasts list . . . And it's also amazingly helpful in getting the podcast seen by more eyes if you can take just a moment to stop by iTunes to give us a quick